Thaindian News

New Delhi, Nov 14 (IANS) Union Sports minister Ajay Maken Monday said he hoped to get the national sports bill passed by parliament during its winter session and pointed out that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should come under the Right to Informational (RTI) Act for their own benefit.

“When we talk about transparency and the RTI, it is about all the 66 sports disciplines including the BCCI. It is public money that they are dealing with and they should come out clean for their own benefit. Otherwise there will be a question mark on whatever good work they have done in the past,” Maken told reporters at the National Stadium here while distributing cash awards among sportspersons.

Maken, however, said that the challenge for him is to lay the revised sports bill before the cabinet, which had earlier rejected it during the last session of parliament.

“I am trying to present the bill again in the cabinet and get it passed during the winter session of parliament,” he said.

Asked about the controversial World Series of Hockey (WSH), Maken said: “Personally, I have nothing to do with the WSH, I am only concerned about the national hockey team.”

Maken also said that there wouldn’t be any dearth of funds for preparations for the 2012 London Olympics.

“We have a steering committee, headed by sports secretary, that looks after all the funds. In all the sports federations we have government observers, who look after all the resources. We have a huge amount set aside for the London Olympics and I can assure you all that there will be no dearth of funds,” he said.

Maken also said that from next year the sports ministry will distribute cash prizes twice in a year to prevent backlog.

“Today we distributed around Rs.8 crore to athletes and coaches for their achievements since 2010. To avoid such delays we will be giving away cash awards twice every year. We will also make sure that coaches, who play a huge role during the formative years of an athlete, are also awarded,” he said.